“I can’t drink. Um . . . I mean, I’m not drinking tonight.”
“Okay, well, thank you.”
Before I leave, Baylee reaches for my arm and stops me. “Um, quick question. Is Bo in a relationship with Geneva or, um, that other brunette?”
Fuck. And this is why you don’t sleep with your coworkers.
I shake my head. “Bo doesn’t do relationships. He has fun with, uh, friends. Geneva is a friend, and Sophie is marrying Gabriel, the man who’s standing off to the side.”
Baylee plucks at her shirt, pulling it down over her waist. “Ah, okay. Thanks. Um, have fun tonight, Parker.”
Everything about the encounter is disconcerting and something I need to talk to Sky or Bo about. Maybe both. I don’t want to get involved in Baylee’s personal life, but why would she wear jeans that don’t fit and make a point to try and hide it? And second, she’s asking after Bo like a girl who’s interested in more than the one-night stand they had. This does not bode well for any of our futures if she gets hung up on Bo. He is not the relationship type. Far from it.
I walk over to my girl and hand her the glass of champagne.
“Ohhh yummy! Thank you, honey.” She takes the glass and clinks it with mine. We both look in one another’s eyes as we take a sip.
“Happy birthday, baby.”
“Best. Birthday. Ever,” she responds excitedly.
I shake my head and kiss her cheek. “You’re too easy to please. My father’s bar, our family, friends, and you act like I just hung the moon.”
My girl wraps her arms around my neck, her glass in one of her hands as she kisses me. “Maybe to me, Parker, you did hang the moon. I can’t think of anything better than this moment.”
“Oh yeah?”
She smiles. “Yeah.”
I shrug and purse my lips together. “I think I can top it.”
Skyler giggles. “I doubt it. My man, friends, family, booze. And I can smell the roasting pork. What more could a girl like me want on her birthday?”
“You’ll see . . .” I smirk and turn sideways. “Everyone, may I have your attention? Baylee, the music, please.”
The music cuts out, and everyone turns toward where I’m holding Skyler. “First of all, I want to thank you all for coming. Second, I couldn’t think of a better way to show the woman of my dreams how much I love and adore her.”
I set my drink down on the table in front of me, grab both of Skyler’s hands, and drop down to one knee.
11
SKYLER
“Oh my goodness! You’re going to . . .” I look at all of the people watching Parker down on one knee in front of me. “Yep, you’re doing it now.” I stomp my foot. “I thought I’d be prepared!” The tears prick my eyes for the second time tonight.
“Relax, baby, and go with it.” He grins.
“I love you so much!” I blurt, and our friends laugh.
“Sky, baby, you gotta let your man do this right. Be quiet and listen to me!” Parker aims that heart-melting smile my way, and I swoon all over again.
My hands feel heavy in his, but my body is light as air. If he weren’t holding me to earth, I’d float away on a cloud of bliss.
“Skyler, you shocked the hell out of me when you asked me to marry you on national television. As you know, I was worried you weren’t ready, that you might want to get married in order to replace the hurts you suffered recently. I know now that was stupid.”
“Yeah it was!” Bo shouts alongside a couple of catcalls.
“Anyway, I realized with my time away from you that, for one, I hate being away from you. I want to spend every day of my life waking up to you. Every night falling asleep with you by my side. And I want to do those things not as your man but as your husband. The man who’s meant to protect and love you for as long as we both are breathing.”
“Honey . . .” I want to share in the gift of his words. “I want those things too.”
“Good, because you’re gonna be mine. I’m not asking you to marry me; I’m telling you, baby, you have no choice. You’re it for me, and I’m it for you. Fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it, decided the minute you opened the door in your underwear.” He grins wide. “Kidding.”
Embarrassment floods my cheeks with heat as everyone chuckles. “It was a misunderstanding!” I say to everyone else, but feel my fingers being squeezed so that my attention goes back to my guy, on his knees at my feet.
“Skyler Paige Lumpkin, you’ve always been my dream girl. You will always be my dream girl. I will do my best to give you an incredible life. In front of all the people we love the most, I’d be humbled and honored if you’d agree to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
He pulls out an aqua box with a white ribbon on the top. I’d recognize that Tiffany brand anywhere.
My throat clogs up as he opens the top, and inside is the thinnest band of diamonds meeting in the center where an emerald-cut diamond sits delicately. The stone seems huge to me, with no real experience to compare it to, and it sparkles like a full moon on a dark night.
I gasp and reach out my finger to touch the stone but pull back at the last second, almost afraid to get burned it’s shining so bright.
“Yes. As long as you always remember that I asked you first!”
Parker laughs while pulling out the ring and placing it on my left hand. He leans forward and kisses the stone. “No going back. It’s you and me against the world. From here on out.”
I smile so wide my cheeks hurt. “It’s the only way I would have it.”
“Kiss the girl already, you fool!” Randy Ellis hollers out.
Parker stands and glares over his shoulder. “I’m getting there!”
Then my man wraps his arms around me and kisses me so fully I forget where we are, and I lift my leg, wrapping it around his thigh in order to get my lower half closer to every dreamy part of him.
“That’s enough!” Cathy calls out. “Hoo-boy. If they keep going at this rate, I’m going to be getting grandbabies before the wedding takes place. Praise the good Lord above!”
Parker snort-laughs against my mouth and pulls back enough to speak against my lips. “She’s already talking about grandkids.”
I shrug. “You know I’m game.”
He kisses me hard once more. “I’m thinking when the A-Lister movies finish up, it’s something we can talk about.” Parker dips his lips to my neck and inhales deeply. “I want you all to myself for a little while if that’s okay.”
He’s not saying no. He’s saying a couple of years from now. “That I can handle. Though I plan to talk about it . . . a lot, mister!” I poke his chest playfully.
“Speaking of having babies, when you due, pumpkin?” Momma Sterling gestures across the room.
I turn around and realize she’s got her eyes locked on Baylee, who’s behind the bar, wide eyed, fingers kneading a bar towel as though it’s a pound of dough.
“Um . . .”
“Oh please, no hidin’ from me.” Momma Sterling keeps going. “You’ve looked green since we got here. You keep running off to the bathroom, and every time someone mentions the pork, you make a gagging sound. Mm-hmm. That will pass, pumpkin. I know morning sickness. It don’t last forever, child.”
Baylee’s mouth drops open, and she grabs for the bar, maybe to hold herself up.
Momma Sterling is relentless as she lifts her hand and points a perfectly painted red acrylic nail in Baylee’s direction and swirls her finger in a circle. “And that little trick you’re using on your pants, to widen them at the waist because your stomach’s gettin’ too big but you’re not quite ready for maternity clothes. Sho’ been there. Done that. What, you about ten to twelve weeks?”
Bo’s chair scratches across the wood floor, sounding unusually loud. He stomps up to the bar and stares Baylee down. “Is this true? Are you pregnant?”
A tear slips down Baylee’s cheek, and it is not one of happiness.
Ho-lee shit!
“Is it mine? We fucked on Chris
tmas Eve.” He waves his hand. “Someone tell me how long ago that was.”
“Twelve weeks! I know because I got pregnant on New Year’s Eve. So I’m eleven weeks. Yay, we can be prego sisters!” Wendy claps.
Bo lifts up a hand behind him to shut Wendy up without even looking at her.
“I asked you a question. Are you pregnant?”
Cathy gasps and holds her hands over her mouth.
Baylee’s eyes grow wide as she glances around the room, looking at everyone but Bo. He slams his hand down against the bar, and she jumps back, covering her stomach and her face at the same time.
Shit. She’s scared.
I move out of Parker’s arms, but he tries to hold me back. “Sky, no. This is none of our business.”
I shove his arms down. “She’s scared out of her mind!” I strut on my wedges over to the side of the bar, lift the latch, and go to Baylee. I loop my arm around her waist. “Sweetheart, we’re all family here. You don’t have anything to fear.”
“Are. You. Pregnant. With. My. Fucking. Child!” Bo grates, his tone rising with every word. “I don’t give a shit if you’re scared. I have a goddamned right to know!”
Momma Sterling stands up. “Bogart, you better stop right there, or I’m gonna knock some sense into you, boy. You’re frightening the poor thing. Calm down and let her speak, son.”
Baylee’s body shakes uncontrollably in my arms, but she nods her head up and down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. D-don’t h-hurt me,” she stutters, and the tears flow down her cheeks in buckets.
Hurt her?
“Oh Lord, dear child.” Momma Sterling’s voice dips in understanding as she shakes her head.
Bo backs up one step at a time until he runs right into Parker, who puts a hand to his neck. Next to him Royce curls a hand around his shoulder.
“Brother, it will be okay. We’ll hash this out. All is well,” Royce reassures him, his tone steady and calming.
Bo’s mouth twists into a snarl. “All is not well. I’m going to be a father. A goddamned piece-of-shit father I never wanted to be.” He lifts a hand up toward Baylee. “This shouldn’t have happened. It never should have happened.”
“I’m, I’m so sorry!” Baylee sobs as she pulls out of my arms, then rushes through the opening at the end of the bar and out the front door.
Kendra gets up and takes off after her.
Bo drops his head to stare at his boots. His shoulders slump, and his hands hang in fists at his sides. He looks destroyed.
“Come on, man, let’s get you a shot . . . or four.” Parker leads Bo over to the bar, and I spin around and pick a bottle of Patrón, grabbing a glass and setting him up with a double. Before I can even cap the bottle he’s already slammed it back.
“Another,” he rumbles. I fill that up, and he repeats it. “Again.”
“I don’t think—” I start to warn him off. He’s already had two doubles.
“Don’t think. Just pour.” I glance up to Parker, who nods his assent, so I fill that glass again. This time Bo sips it.
“We’ll figure this out,” Parker assures Bo, speaking low enough so only the four of us can hear.
Bo shakes his head. “Nuthin’ to figure out, man. I knew it was coming. One day the curse would hit. It’s my legacy. Happened to my father, his father, and his father before him. No matter how many times I wrapped it, there was always a chance I’d end up right here.” He taps the top of the bar with his index finger. “Should have gotten a vasectomy. Tried once, but the doctor said I was too young. Wanted me to wait until I was thirty. Well, fuck you very much! I’m turning thirty this year, and wha’ d’ya know, I’m going to be a father.”
“It will be okay, brother,” Royce rumbles in that deep baritone all women love.
“Naw, man, it won’t. It will never be okay again.” Bo scoots off the stool and heads for the door. Mick stops him with a hand to his chest when Bo reaches the door of the bar, preventing any exit.
“You’re not driving. We’ll take you wherever you need to go.” Mick’s voice is a command, not a request.
“Not driving. Just gonna take a walk. A long fuckin’ walk.” He pats Mick’s chest and pushes past him and out the door.
As he leaves, Kendra comes in and shakes her head. I guess she couldn’t catch up to Baylee.
Cathy Ellis bustles around our friends and then claps her hands. “Okay, now I know that was a bit uncomfortable, mostly for Bo and Baylee, but let’s move on. This is a party, for crying out loud, and we’re celebrating Skyler’s birthday, and my baby is getting married! I think it’s time for some pulled pork!” She raises her hands in the air like a cheerleader.
I love that woman, and more so, my mother would love her. And she’d love Parker, but she’d love Parker for me above all.
Parker sits at the stool, and Royce takes the seat next to him. Since I’m standing behind the bar, I grab another three shot glasses and pour us all a shot of tequila.
“Thanks,” Parker says.
“Baby girl.” Royce dips his chin.
The three of us shoot the fiery liquid back.
“So what do you think?” Royce asks Parker.
“I think we’re going to have another interesting year,” Parker responds flatly, not sounding very excited that more drama is on the horizon.
Royce smiles wide and glances over his shoulder at Kendra, whose hazel eyes are lasered on the three of us. “Brother, I heard that.”
“At least we have each other’s backs.” Parker pats Royce’s. “Looks like we’re going to need it.”
I wait until there’s silence between the two guys and pour us all another drink.
“So . . . I’m guessing it’s too soon to be excited that two of our extended family are having babies?” I clap just my fingers together.
Parker chuckles and Royce groans.
“You hooked your star to a handful.” Royce laughs for Parker’s benefit and winks at me.
Parker’s gaze lifts to mine, his blue eyes dark and intense as love seeps out of them and straight at me.
“I definitely hooked myself to a star. To my dream girl. My future wife.” Parker nods his head to me and spins on his stool. Royce follows his lead. I come around the bar and curl into Parker’s side. He squeezes my hip, and we take in the room.
Our friends and family are laughing and carrying on. Cathy and Wendy are dishing out plates piled high with food. Momma Sterling is cackling away with her daughters and Paul and Denny. Rachel and Nate are canoodling in the corner when they think no one is looking. Gabriel kisses Sophie sweetly while always keeping her close. Mick watches his woman like a hawk, seemingly unhappy about her carrying plates, which I can only imagine he thinks she shouldn’t do in her condition. My buddy Rick and his girlfriend are shooting the breeze with Geneva and Elliott.
There’s one woman who doesn’t look as happy as everyone else—Kendra. She’s sitting next to Annie, but her gaze shifts to Royce every couple of minutes. Parker told me that Royce confessed he’d been sleeping with her on and off but that their relationship seemed more explosive and combative than anything else. According to Parker, I am definitely not supposed to ask Kendra or Royce about it, nor am I allowed to get involved. I figure I’ll wait this out until Wendy gets back from her honeymoon, and we’ll put our heads together and come up with our approach, regardless of what Parker said. We’re family, and when one or two of us is hurting, it’s our job to pitch in, help lighten the load.
First up, however, has to be Bo and Baylee. Neither of them seems pleased that she’s having his baby. Besides, what do we really know about Baylee? Her name. That she’s a sweet, beautiful woman who hides behind boxy shirts and ill-fitting jeans. She’s hardworking, has been instrumental in keeping Lucky’s afloat alongside Bo, but what else? I don’t even know where she lives. Never met any of her family. She doesn’t have any friends come in the bar to visit, which, when I think about it, seems really strange.
I tap my finger against th
e shot of tequila I’m sipping. More than ever before I feel the need to wade into another person’s life. Another few persons. I smile and catch Wendy’s gaze as she comes up with two plates of food.
“Here, take these before Mick kills me. He thinks they’re too heavy for a pregnant woman.” She rolls her eyes. “I told him he could suck it.”
Parker chuckles. “How’d that work for you?”
She grins coquettishly. “Very well. I’ll be blowing him in the limo on the way home as punishment.” She smacks her lips and dips a shoulder before sauntering away in impossibly tall, knee-high leather stilettos paired with a cotton T-shirt dress that stylishly accentuates her thin body.
I snicker and kiss my guy on the temple.
Parker nudges my side and lifts his chin. “You happy?”
“Happiness is a choice. And I choose all of this. Everyone here.” I run my hand down his face and cup his cheek. “Most of all, I choose you, because you’re what makes me happiest.”
“We’re going to have a beautiful life together, Peaches.” He says it low and deep, a promise I’ll cherish forever.
I lift my arm, showing him my leather bracelet. He does the same so that our wrists are next to one another, our bracelets touching, engagement rings gleaming.
“We trusted our hearts and lived our truths,” I whisper against his lips.
“Yes, we did, and it brought us to this very moment.” He cups my cheek and locks his gaze with mine. “You’re my truth. You’re my heart.”
“And you’re mine.”
EPILOGUE
Three years in the future . . .
I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight in my life, and I’ve been enormously blessed in my thirty-three years on this planet. Not even the moment my dream girl walked down the aisle toward me in her white dress tops this one.
Skyler looks up as I stand in the hospital doorway holding a desperately needed cup of coffee. A tired but glamorous smile slips across my wife’s lips before she looks back down. I shut the door softly and walk over to sit at the end of her bed, not wanting to disturb her. She’s cradling our world to her chest, softly stroking his rosy-pink cheek as he suckles from his mother’s breast.
International Guy: Volume 4 Page 40